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© Proceedings of the Ruhuna Quality Assurance Sessions 2021 (RUQAS 2021)
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21 September 2021

The responses given by the two batches to a particular question in the two years were analyzed using
the Mann-Whitney U test in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28.0. Statistical

significance is considered as when p<0.05.

Results

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In 2020, out of 179 students in the 36 batch, 46 (25.69%) responded to the survey. In 2021, 67
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(41.62%) students out of 161 students in the 37 batch responded to the survey. There is a significant
improvement of the rate of response of the students (p=0.002). In both years, the majority of the

respondents were female (2020; 78.3%, 2021; 73.1%).

Seven questions out of twelve that inquired about the quality of teaching showed the satisfaction of

students towards the good side. These include, whether learning objectives and timetables are given
before the commencement of the course, lecturers begin and end lectures/ tutorials and practical

classes on time, lecturers are well-prepared for sessions, lecturers encourage students to ask questions
and participate, lecturers answer questions clearly, lecturers know the subject matter and receive

adequate help from the departments to pass the repeat exam. The responses received for the rest of the
questions were within average (Table 1).

About the quality of the learning environment, students who had disabilities strongly agreed that they
received adequate support from the faculty to continue their learning activities during the period of

disability. Further students strongly agreed that they had a safe environment within the faculty
premises. However, the responses are within average on mentoring service, support of administrative

issues, sports activities, and activities of the student bodies (Table 1).

The responses from the students are towards the good side on the facilities of library, IT unit, Deans’

office, student affairs unit, and hostel. Students had concerns on study areas, common rooms, and
canteen facilities. The rest of the facilities that were inquired, received an average response. (Table 1)

Out of 21 questions, only 3 questions showed a statistically significant difference between the

responses given in the two years (Table 1).

In addition to the above, eight open-ended questions were included in the questionnaire. Six students

responded that some departments in the faculty do not provide learning objectives and timetables on
time.

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